Stepping Away From Zimbabwe for a Moment to Study the State of Kuwait

Kuwait is a tiny country, almost the size of New Jersey, located between Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the Persian Gulf.  Although small, Kuwait is certainly not insignificant.  Kuwait is the fifth richest country in the world, prospering from its natural oil reserves and the development of its petroleum industry after WWII and independence in 1961. Oil alone makes up 90% of the country’s export revenues. 

Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991, pausing oil exports for a period of time.  With US assistance, the Iraqi forces were ousted out of Kuwait.  The country’s infrastructure was left in shambles, but they slowly began to build up their strength again. 

Kuwait has developed a constitutional emirate government, which has proved to be very successful in recent years.  The government has an executive branch composed of a chief of state (the emir), the Crown Prince, a Prime Minister, a first deputy prime minister, and several deputy prime ministers.  Kuwait has a unicameral legislature called the National Assembly (Majlis al-Umma).  The High Court of Appeal makes up the judicial branch. 

Kuwait’s educational system is, to me, the most fascinating Kuwaiti government program.  In the beginning of the 20th century, schools were few and far between.  There were no public schools and wealthier Kuwait citizens funded most private schools. In 1939, the government began its own education system.  By 1945 there were 17 Kuwaiti schools.  As oil began to pick up as a hot commodity, Kuwait grew wealthier, and more funding was poured into the schooling system.  Forty-five thousand students were enrolled in Kuwaiti schools in 1960.  The Constitution of 1962 claimed that education was a fundamental right to all citizens, including females.  Finally, in 1965 schooling became required for children ages six to fourteen. 

In today’s Kuwait, the education system is larger than it has ever been, and it is continuing to grow.  About 30 percent of Kuwait’s population is enrolled in the state’s schools.  Schooling begins at the age of six, although preschool is available at the age of four, and involves elementary, intermediate, and secondary educations.  Four years are spent at each level of the schooling system.  The State of Kuwait pays for all stages of education, including higher education. 

All public schools in Kuwait are gender specific, but private co-ed schools do exist.  In fact, many Kuwaiti’s decide to send their children to these foreign-sponsored schools.  Kuwait’s government does provide significant but not complete subsidization of private schools. 

In each state school, English is taught as a primary subject from the second grade forward.  Each school contains a library, and Kuwait has expanded its book collection from around 230,000 to almost three million books.  “The government has also launched an ‘Education Net’ project to connect every government school and library to a telecommunications data network.”  Kuwait is certainly flourishing in the development of a strong educational system. 

3/12/2009